Police: Kidnapping victim who stole ambulance was lured to house

A man who said he stole an ambulance while fleeing after being held captive for days in a Clearcreek Twp. house had been lured to the residence, police said.

Clearkcreek Twp. Sgt. Wallace Stacy said the 22-year-old victim thought he was coming to help an ex-girlfriend who said she was being abused by people at the house.

“And he believed he was on a rescue mission,” Stacy said of the main.

>> Previous coverage: Man steals ambulance to escape kidnapping, torture; 1 arrested

Instead, the man reportedly was held in a dog cage and beaten over three days before escaping to a nearby fire station when he took an ambulance and fled the area.

One person, 38-year-old Christopher Edwards of Warren County, has been charged with felonious assault and kidnapping.

The victim’s injuries included cuts, burns and bruises, Stacy said.

>> Previous coverage: Clearcreek Twp. police execute search warrant related to stolen ambulance

“Those injuries and what we found in the search warrant at the home are what corroborated his story that developed probable cause to make the one arrest,” Stacy said.

He said other suspects are being investigated.

“We are still trying to piece this all together. Once we have some more answers there will be other charges,” Stacy said.

“This is a house we’ve had other police calls at before, disturbances and so forth, so we’re in that area quite often,” he said.

Edwards was subletting from the leased tenant and was living there, Stacy said.

Investigators do not believe the ex-girlfriend lives in the home.

Officers are still trying to determine how many people were at the house during the incident.

“How many people were there? How many people there knew this was going on? How many people may have saw something they could have reported but didn’t?” Stacy asked.

He said he did not see this as a threat to the general public.

“This is an isolated incident, probably based on a bad breakup between a man and a woman, and I don’t believe there is any threat to the community at large,” Stacy said.

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